OPINION ARTICLE
The Role of Antigen Rapid Diagnostic Test in COVID-19 Diagnosis
Ronni Mol Joji1, Mohammad Shahid1, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2021Volume: 1
First Page: 108
Last Page: 111
Publisher ID: TOCOVIDJ-1-108
DOI: 10.2174/2666958702101010108
Article History:
Received Date: 10/3/2021Revision Received Date: 15/6/2021
Acceptance Date: 17/6/2021
Electronic publication date: 10/11/2021
Collection year: 2021
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Since the emergence of a novel infection due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), the World Health Organization has urged countries to develop diagnostic tests to combat the pandemic. Molecular assays were developed following the release of the gene sequence of the virus in January 2020. Reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) is taken as the gold standard for the diagnosis of COVID-19. However, due to its limitations, highly sensitive methods for detecting antigens (antigen rapid diagnostic tests) have been developed that would help in a timely and accurate diagnosis. Antigen rapid diagnostic tests (Ag-RDTs) can help guide patient management at the point of care by random screening, re-testing, and timely decision-making in the field of public health. When the affordability and validity of the diagnostic assay are involved, no assay can show 100% correct results. Further studies need to be done to better understand the response of the Ag-RDTs in different settings. Nevertheless, Ag-RDTs can play a complementary role in the response and case management of COVID-19.